u/crod_02

Seeking advice as I do not want to this to take over my life.

May 14th I had open heart surgery for an ASD closure.

June 30th in a days time, I started having major chest pain and breathing restrictions. Ended up having a pericardial effusion. They drained 1.5 liters of blood/fluid from my heart sac. Ended up being in the hospital a few days, once released I recovered quickly.

Fast forward to this week (week of August 10th) I started feeling off over a few day period, on Friday I had an echo done. No fluid ruled out another effusion, but it is pericarditis. I did run a 5k on Sunday and the same on Monday, I may have pissed my heart off..

Ever since the first go around in June I have been on colchicine, an ibuprofen taper, aspirin and a med to prevent ulcers.

Does anyone have a similar experience or recommendations. I’ve been through the ringer with all of this and really don’t know how much more I can take..

Posting for insight and experiences from others. May 14th I had OHS to close a 16mm ASD. Recovery has been a breeze up until this past Sunday. I started feeling off then eventually my breathing was constricted & chest felt tight. About 3AM I went to the ER and was very close to being in tamponade, HR upon arrival was 208.

They got my vitals under control and let me know I had pericardial effusion. They tapped into my heart sac through my ribs, drained fluid and then left a drain in for about 24 hours. Today (Thursday) I feel back to normal and fine. My biggest concern is it happening again, I’m on meds to control inflammation.

Has anyone experienced this multiple times or is it commonly a one and done? No infection was found in the lab work & my care team believed this was a slow build up. Being awake and aware during the procedure was terrible, I can not fathom doing that again. Any insight or past experiences are appreciated.

30M